Greensburg – Decatur County United Fund is pleased to announce that it will receive a second COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative grant for $76,722 from Indiana United Ways, the state professional association of which Decatur County United Fund is a member. The grant will be used to support our community in meeting basic human needs brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grant is one of 47 grants that Indiana United Ways is making to member organizations and community foundations through the initiative, which was made possible by funding Indiana United Ways received from Lilly Endowment Inc.
“Decatur County United Fund has been a key convener and coordinator of our community’s response to meet human needs for decades. Even before this crisis, we knew that 32% or 1 in 3 families in Decatur County were not able to make ends meet – despite working. In the wake of COVID, those needs became even more dire. Thanks to the generous, continued support of Lilly Endowment to our State Association, we can continue to help our community, through nonprofit partners, deal with and hopefully resolve the impacts of this trying time,” said Amy Bray for Decatur County United Fund.
The second COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative grant again calls for United Ways/Funds that receive funding to leverage partnerships and relationships to better meet COVID-related basic needs aligned with the social determinants of health as defined by the CDC. Specifically, Decatur County United Fund plans to open applications, have the established grant team which includes Decatur County United Fund and the Decatur County Community Foundation review applications, and award grants to be utilized now until spenddown is complete by December 1, 2021. Decatur County United Fund will begin accepting funding requests from area human and social service nonprofits whose IRS designation is in good standing beginning July 1, 2021. Interested organizations should consult Decatur County United Fund’s website for guidance on funding intent and application instructions.
In April 2020, Lilly Endowment helped Indiana United Ways establish the COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative with an initial $30 million grant. Lilly Endowment made an additional $15 million grant in March to Indiana United Ways to support the initiative. Both grants are part of Lilly Endowment’s overall grantmaking to help organizations meet COVID-related needs. Since March 2020, Lilly Endowment has made grants totaling more than $210 million to organizations working in Indiana and across the nation as they respond to the pandemic.
Decatur County United Fund has been in operations since 1957. Our mission is mobilizing the power of our community to develop and maintain resources to meet human needs. Our vision is to improve the quality of life for the people of Decatur County, especially the most vulnerable. Increase human and capital resources available to support our community partner’s efforts to address community-wide goals. Serve as a community leader developing and leveraging diverse, collaborative partnerships to impact health and human services outcomes. For more information, contact Joane Cunningham, Executive Director at unitedfunddc@etczone.com.
